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Guidance needed

Which would you choose?

  • NAD M10

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • NAD C658 + NAD C268

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Hegel H120

    Votes: 3 100.0%

  • Total voters
    3
  • Poll closed .

ljcarr

i have no idea what im talking about
Ok I’m looking at streaming options. My current options are

1) NAD M1O
2) NAD C658 + NAD C268
3) HEGEL H190

Which would you choose and why?
 
I would have to agree with flat. A great dac is where it is at with a usb input then you have a wealth of options for the streamer including a pc which will ensure long term support and new software features as they become available.
 
Likewise. I still far prefer CD/vinyl to streaming, but if I didn’t I’d split my budget into £35 for a Raspberry Pi and however much was left into the best DAC I could afford. Maybe look into the various Pi ‘hats’ that provide a cleaner digital output than USB, and a case, but they are only cheap so don’t impact the budget much.

This way you sink the main part of the budget into the thing that lasts the longest, the streaming aspect just being a tiny single-board computer that can be discarded when obsolete without much cost or environmental waste. All in one streamers are a crazy idea IMHO, as building obsolescence into expensive hardware inevitably is. I’d happily run a Pi plus I/O hat into something in the Chord Dave/dCS class. Its just a really sensible way of approaching the question.
 
I’d be inclined to try a Pi with an Allo Digione Signature HAT. SPDIF out into your DAC if choice. There’s also a new Allo USB signature board if you prefer to output USB. This has the Pi compute module built into it.
 
Streaming ignoramus here again...…

From what has been mentioned here recently, I had in mind trying to find a MkII Innuos Zenn Mini - no DAC, just storage and interface really, originally selling new for around £500.

If I were to go for a Raspberry Pi and NAS, and using the digital input on my CDP, presumably control would be via a wired connection to my laptop?
The other thing that I have no grasp of, is file format - CD, MP3 and FLAC are all different digital file types, but what can a DAC work with?
 
The other thing that I have no grasp of, is file format - CD, MP3 and FLAC are all different digital file types, but what can a DAC work with?

CD is, in principle, a file format (CDDA), but when you rip (copy) a CD to your computer, you can tell your copying program (ripper) what format you want to save in - WAV, FLAC, MP3 etc.

A DAC normally only understands linear, uncompressed PCM (and perhaps DSD), but the player software can usually handle and decode most formats.
 
If I were to go for a Raspberry Pi and NAS, and using the digital input on my CDP, presumably control would be via a wired connection to my laptop?

Depending on what OS/streaming package you have installed on the Pi you can usually log in via a web-browser on your phone, iPad or whatever and control everything wirelessly, i.e. you use your phone as the remote control. There are many alternative ways of doing it, e.g. you can even just use the Pi as an interface like an Apple Airport Express and do the streaming from your phone /tablet, though the former approach is preferable.
 
A Hegel with the right speakers will give you a more life like sound IMO.
The Nad’s sound great but they are more « quiet » according to what I heard so far.
 
A Hegel with the right speakers will give you a more life like sound IMO.
The Nad’s sound great but they are more « quiet » according to what I heard so far.

What would be the reason (as in describable by physics) for that?
 
Whatever you choose, it will most likely become old hat later this year

Really? I be been using Logitech media server for 13 years now. Moved it from platform to platform with a few times.upgraded DACs, swapped PC for server for NAS etc. SW has been constant.

HAd I spent £500 on a NAD type box or £3000 on a Linn AIO box, it would certainly have have been rendered obselete, with not upgrades or further development in that time.
 
Really? I be been using Logitech media server for 13 years now. Moved it from platform to platform with a few times.upgraded DACs, swapped PC for server for NAS etc. SW has been constant.

HAd I spent £500 on a NAD type box or £3000 on a Linn AIO box, it would certainly have have been rendered obselete, with not upgrades or further development in that time.

The man did say "most likely" - be fair..
 
Whatever you choose, it will most likely become old hat later this year

Thats the beauty of not taking a hifi companies bespoke solution, invariably it lands up out of date. Where as if you have a say an intel NUC then, its longevity is going to be subtantially more and it costs considerably less.
 
What would be the reason (as in describable by physics) for that?

I don’t really know about the physics or electrical laws behind it, I just rely on my ears and I got more excited by the Hegel than any other Nad amplifiers.

That being said, a friend of mine has a Rega 3 turntable, a Nad 3120 with some B&W DM 100 and he is very happy with this kit........and he also has a rather good ear as he has been playing saxophone most of his life !
 
I don’t really know about the physics or electrical laws behind it, I just rely on my ears and I got more excited by the Hegel than any other Nad amplifiers.

OK, your subjective perception is noted.

That being said, a friend of mine has a Rega 3 turntable, a Nad 3120 with some B&W DM 100 and he is very happy with this kit........and he also has a rather good ear as he has been playing saxophone most of his life !

Not sure how playing a saxophone necessarily develops a "good ear" (whatever that means) for the purpose of this discussion. Musicians usually develop a good sense of rhythm, pitch and harmony, but those are characteristics of music, not speakers or amplifiers. Some of my musician friends are more than happy listening to gear that would make most audiophiles cringe.
 
This discussion, along with the recent Sonos thread highlights to me the crossover point between HiFi & computers.
From a hifi view, we are accustomed/expect a turntable, speakers & amplifiers to last a long time with just occasional servicing.
Computers, laptops, smart phones etc........a lot of people seem OK or at least resigned to replacing them on a much shorter life cycle as software & feature updates outgrow the original capacity of the device.
So now we have streamers, which we use as a hifi product but in reality are a computer of sorts. Whilst a 25 year old turntable or speakers could well still be very serviceable (OK carts need changing more frequently than that but you get my drift), a 25 yr old digital device is a relic with incredibly limited performance.
If we embrace streaming as the future, as I believe it is, (at least for quite a while), then some of us may have to adjust our expectations on lifespan of our beloved HiFi gear.


Ive heard the M10 but not the Hegel stuff. The M10 is a great one box convenience product which works for a lot of people. I'd also add the Naim Uniti Atom into the audition list as it is similarly priced & capable of excellent results along the same lines.
 
So now we have streamers, which we use as a hifi product but in reality are a computer of sorts. Whilst a 25 year old turntable or speakers could well still be very serviceable (OK carts need changing more frequently than that but you get my drift), a 25 yr old digital device is a relic with incredibly limited performance.
If we embrace streaming as the future, as I believe it is, (at least for quite a while), then some of us may have to adjust our expectations on lifespan of our beloved HiFi gear.

This needs to be balanced against a planet dying in a sea of unwanted cheap plastic shit! Companies who want our money need to start thinking intelligently and designing future-proof kit, e.g. if designing a streaming tuner-amp or loudspeaker system make the computer aspect modular so one is only ever going to replace and throw out a tiny single-board computer, not a perfectly serviceable amp, speaker, PSU and casework assembly. Stuff really doesn’t have to be designed to be throw-away shit! There is absolutely no reason why modern digital audio couldn’t be built with a swappable card or whatever carrying the non-future-proof aspect. It should be no harder than swapping a card on a desktop computer.

PS This is why if I ever go the streaming route I’ll be using a £35 Raspberry Pi into my £2.5k Deltec DAC, that way I’m only ever going to be flinging out a cheap 2x3” SBC, never anything big, bulky or expensive. I see no credible argument for the Naim/Hegel route. Why would one want to build a clearly evolving technology into such an expensive item? Why make that level of product effectively disposable?
 


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